Nearly three months ago, Sonia Gandhi wrote an emotive letter to the people of Rae Bareli recalling her family's association with the Uttar Pradesh constituency through generations. As she informed the people of not seeking a renomination from the seat, Gandhi appealed to the people to take care of her family as they have done in the past and promised to come soon to what has been her 'karmabhoomi' since 2004.
She seems to have honoured that promise as she passed the baton to Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli to continue the age-old legacy.
Almost seven decades ago, the constituency was represented by Feroz Gandhi, grandfather of Rahul Gandhi, in 1952 and 1957. The seat was then represented by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi twice.
The Congress tasted defeat for the first time in Rae Bareli in 1977 when Indira Gandhi famously lost to socialist leader Raj Narain by 50,000 votes in the elections post Emergency.
However, she made a comeback in 1980 but left the seat and chose to present Medhak in Andhra Pradesh. Explaining the decision, one Congress leader recalled, "It was well known that people of Rae Bareli had easy access to Indira Gandhi, and she was even familiar with many faces and knew the block-level Congress workers by name."
Sonia Gandhi made her Lok Sabha electoral debut in 1999 from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and Bellary in Karnataka. She won both the constituencies and gave up Bellary. In 2004, when Rahul Gandhi was going to contest his maiden election, she shifted to Rae Bareli in 2004.
Rahul Gandhi went on to win Amethi for three consecutive times before being defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019.
The Congress has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, an influential representative of the Gandhi family in Amethi and Rae Bareli for over two decades, from Amethi.
Rae Bareli has been an impregnable fortress of the Congress in the worst of times, barring Indira Gandhi's defeat in 1977. In 2009, Sonia Gandhi received 72% of the votes. In 2014 and 2019, the former Congress chief bagged 63% and 55% of the votes respectively.
The Rae Bareli seat has always enjoyed VIP status by the virtue of being the seat of power for Gandhis whenever Congress has been at the helm at the Centre. UPA ministers would always make extra efforts to solve the grievances of Rae Bareli, while Gandhis tried to empower people through many self-help groups who would serve the community.
On the other hand, the people of Rae Bareli clearly knew the worth of their constituency during the UPA era. Whenever they visited any minister or bureaucrat in Delhi, they emphasised that they came from Rai Bareli and displayed their proximity to the Gandhis.
